Marrakesh me if you can
Marrakesh, Morocco. A city of insanely good food, eclectic and vibrant markets, kittens aplenty (seriously, they are everywhere), and argan oil. A place where you can be in the heart of a crowded central market, to lush green rock landscapes, to snowy mountains, and to deserts within a few hours. When discussing our ultimate “dream places to visit” list, Morocco has always been at the top of our list, but I could not believe how fully I fell in love with the country and how much I already want to return. For me, even above Prague crazily enough, Marrakesh has now officially been declared my favorite weekend getaway, and it was a close second for Matthew (who still likes Rome the most). This was also our FIRST time in Africa, so now we’ve both been to 4 continents, officially somehow exceeding the number of continents my mother has been on now :).
Getting to Marrakesh on the hilariously cheap flights I booked, however, was certainly a trek in and of itself and not surprising at all when you try to book the cheapest flights possible. Usually we travel from Friday to Sunday when we go away, but this time we left super early on Saturday with our returning flight scheduled at 2:00 AM in the morning on Monday. On Saturday morning, we left our apartment at 3:10 AM to make the 3:30 AM train (which takes an hour) to the airport for our flight at 6:15 AM. We had a slightly tight connection, but if everything ran smoothly, we would have been completely fine. But of course it didn’t. Our morning flight to Lisbon got delayed by an hour, completely eliminating our layover time. To make matters worse, we had to take an absurdly long shuttle to get to the Lisbon airport where we then had to wait in a 1 hour+ line to get through customs before we could board our second flight. Luckily, they knew our flight was boarding and we got to run to the front. We BARELY made our second flight and it made for a very stressful morning on very little sleep. Still, we finally arrived in Marrakesh and made our way to the insane hotel that my mom offered to us with her points (thank you mom - this place was NUTS).
(Click image above for more pics of the beautiful hotel)
After checking out the hotel for a bit, we headed to start our afternoon tour of the Medina (the city markets or souks) at Jemaa el-Fnaa, which is one of the most famous and popular squares in all of Africa. Described as a place where the colorful Moroccan traditions blend with present-day, the square itself is extremely diverse and social, where monkeys, snake charmers, escargot stands (more on that later), magicians, henna artists, etc. assemble. While it is certainly spectacular in many ways, it was also a bit disheartening to see the animals forced to perform for the sake of the tourist, but the practices have been so entrenched within the culture (i.e., snake charming), that they will likely never cease completely. It is also extremely busy with dozens of people urgently trying to sell you something everywhere you go, but there are also stunning handicrafts and artists who make it very magical as the sun sets. We were only here briefly to meet our tour guide though, who informed us that not only are we the only ones on the tour (hyello private tour), but that he was also our food guide for later that night. We got so so lucky that 1) tours in Morocco, and most things generally, are so inexpensive that we were able to do 3 tours while we there and 2) that we had the most amazing tour guide, who especially impressed us with the food tour.
(Click image above for more pics)
We started the tour with a quick lunch. Our guide Mohamed took us to one of his favorite local spots where we enjoyed Kefta, which is ground beef and lamb that is seasoned, grilled, and skewered, along with a soft, leavened bread and Matbucha, or essentially Moroccan salsa (soo heavenly). On the way to lunch, we saw probably 40 kittens. While Istanbul had cats everywhere, Marrakesh is the land of KITTENS. I will say, however, the cats and kittens in Marrakesh are very small naturally and look much rougher than the cats of Istanbul. When we ate our Kefta, we were joined by a cat in the window, who literally just stared at us the entire time we ate and who I’m sure ate any remaining morsels. Please enjoy this not at all surprising collage of all the cat pictures I took while in Marrakesh (cue Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You”).
(Click image above for 14 glorious pictures of kittens and cats)
After lunch, we walked around the hidden alleys of the Medina, learning about the importance of red sandstone in the city (leading to its nickname, the “Red City”) and the general spirit of social welfare, where people randomly settle each other’s debts and neighbors take care of each other as much as they can. We also learned about the beloved Moroccan king and his family and saw a shrine of sorts dedicated to them. After this, we went inside two different Riads, which are massive, traditional Moroccan houses with an interior courtyard. They were absolutely stunning, and while previously used as extended family dwellings, they have recently been updated into boutique hotels.
(Click image above for more pics of hidden alleys of the Medina)
(Click image below for more pics of the incredible Riads)
We then went to all sorts of different shops within the souk, including shops with rugs, spices, argan oil, shoes, and random goods. Matthew even splurged on a beautiful pair of custom leather shoes and I bought a blouse, art, and argan oil. At each of these places, we were allowed to go on the rooftops and enjoy Mint tea - we loved the tea so much that we brought some home with us. Rooftops in Morocco are a very popular hang out, and most businesses are very narrow, but have multiple stories with decks at each and every opportunity that provide gorgeous views of the markets and the city itself.
(Click image above for more pics of the souks)
After we were finally shopped out, and STARVING, we started the food tour with cinnamon coffee for me and orange ginger juice for Matthew (which was so heavy on the ginger and SO GOOD - it reminded me so much of the fresh OJ my Nani used to make when were kids with Indian spices). Mohamed asked us how adventurous we were with food, and we said pretty adventurous (though we drew the line at eating a lamb’s head..yikes). We stopped at this tiny stand and he says, “Okay this is spleen. Try it. It’s packed in patties and loaded with spices.” The spleen was either chicken or lamb (we have no clue), but OH MAN, it was so good. This was a huge surprise obviously, but the way it was prepared was super delicious and we were so glad we dove right into the experience. After the spleen, we went to an escargot stand and ate way too many snails soaked in this really deep, rich broth. I have had escargot before in France, where it was heavily buttered and soaked in delicious garlic, but this was definitely not either of our favorites. Still, the experience was very authentic and we sat with a lot of locals and our bowls, and we had no regrets.
Spleen! Yum
Escargot - less tasty
Before going to Morocco, we had watched David Chang's show on Netflix (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) where he goes to Marrakesh with Chrissy Tiegen and experiences all the amazing delicacies. We knew we wanted to see a lamb get cooked underground after watching this show and luckily, we got to see how deep the holes are and how they make sure it achieves the perfect temperature, which was super interesting. We then ate a few different lamb dishes at one of the best spots Morocco has to offer - the chef here has inspired and demonstrated dishes to famous chefs, like Gordon Ramsay, because he was once the private chef for the King of Morocco. The place was by no means fancy at all, and we never would have guessed it by its unassuming outwardly appearance, but it was the best meal I’ve had in my life. We started off with bread, olive tampenade, and the chili sauce, and then progressed to tanjia, which is named after the urn-like pot it is cooked in and is lamb cooked in a variety of spices, herbs, preserved fruits, and ghee. We then ate the lamb dish that is prepared underground, called Méchoui. Of course we ended our meal with tea, ginger juice, and an absurd amount of Moroccan pastries. This tour was seriously a dream and I could not recommend it more - it also only cost $20 a person for ALL of that - we didn’t pay for any food separately! Afterwards, we enjoyed the stunning African sunset and went to the hotel and prepared for a long day ahead on Sunday.
I take all of the photos when we travel, except for the ones I’m in obviously. I wasn’t tall enough to get this shot, so I asked Matt to do it, and he randomly reaches up, takes this shot, and hands the camera back to me without thinking anything of it. Of course it was the best picture of the trip and I’m honestly still super bitter about it.
(Click image above for more pics of food and cooking techniques)
On Sunday, we had an all-day tour arranged to see the Atlas Mountains and ride a camel in the Desert Agafay. Before leaving, we got to eat the most massive, incredible buffet breakfast - I feel like we ate at least 1500 calories just for breakfast, but it was so worth it (again, thanks mom for the awesome hotel). After we were picked up by the tour operator, we drove to the Atlas Mountains, making a few stops for scenic views and pictures along the way. Like I said before, it felt like we saw every terrain possible on this day. We saw rivers surrounded by rich green landscapes and mountains with waterfalls and snow at the Atlas Mountains. On our way up, we stopped at an Argan Oil Woman’s Co-Op and learned how the community gathers together to produce argan oil for consumption and for beauty products. We then got to the bottom of the mountains and walked up a good portion of it until we saw a small (anti-climactic) waterfall. But still, the surrounding nature was breathtaking and it was so interesting to see villages built on the mountain side and off cliffs. We then ate lunch and had chicken tajin (not the same dish as before, but again named for the pot it is cooked in) and lentil soup. Again, the food in Morocco is insanely delicious and without a doubt, this is the best food collectively I have experienced while traveling thus far!
(Click image above for more pics of the drive to the Atlas Mountains (and our breakfast)
(Click image above for more pics of the Women’s Argan Oil Co-Op)
(Click image above for more pics of the beautiful Atlas Mountains)
We then made our way to Desert Agafay and the camel ride. It took about an hour to get there, but the views were spectacular. From mountains, we entered into stunning desert landscapes interspersed with very lush savannahs. I kept thinking of when the light shines down on Simba at the beginning of “The Lion King,” because honestly the sun was doing that everywhere and it just felt like Africa is a little closer to heaven. As for the camel ride, I definitely LOVED it, but Matt said that 20 minutes was more than enough for him because he thought it was painful 😂 We still both loved it and bonded with our camels - we also loved getting dressed up for our desert ride :) Several people commented on how authentic we looked (even Matt), and I’m not kidding even a little bit.
(Click image above for more pics of the Camel ride!)
(Click image below for more pics of the beautiful Moroccan views)
Finally, after a long day, we headed back to the hotel where we again had a delicious dinner at a random restaurant nearby. At this point, it was 8 PM, but we weren’t leaving for the airport until 11 PM for our 2 AM flight. We ultimately just sat in the hotel lobby for three hours, trying to steal any few minutes of sleep we could, and made our way to the airport. We again waited forever in the coldest airport I’ve ever experienced (like, why?), and finally took yet another shuttle to our plane. We landed in Madrid and had a two hour layover, the third shuttle ride of the trip, and boarded our plane to Munich at 5 AM. When we finally landed, we got our luggage and took the train home…well Matt did, I went straight to work. It was a brutally long and tiring weekend, but we felt so invigorated and lucky at the same time to get to have this life changing experience. Marrakesh is definitely a 10/10 - would recommend.
Until next time,
Alexandra